Ethical Scenario 8

​‘The United Kingdom should allow a legal market for the sale of non-essential organs.’

Outline your views on the above statement.

Average Candidate Response

I agree with this as a legal market will increase the supply of organs.

I disagree with this, as organs should not be sold, and this may place pressure on poorer individuals to sell their organs

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​Excellent Candidate ResponseThere are two important sides to consider.

On one hand, legalising the sale of non-essential organs will likely increase the supply or organs, thus reducing the waiting list for organs and improve the quality of life for many people currently on the waiting list. An example of where this has worked well is in Iran where the waiting list for non-essential organs is comparatively short.

Additionally, with organs available for transplant, ‘organ matching’ can be more specific with reduced likelihood of rejection as well as improved skill set and efficiency of transplant doctors (given that they will be performing more organ transplants). From a financial perspective, there are likely to also be economies of scale benefits. A legal market would also help to reduce the ‘black market’ for organs where transplants are often performed without suitable consent, and in infection-prone conditions.

On the other hand, the term ‘non-essential’ is relatively subjective and time specific. Whilst a donor may be able to spare one kidney or a cornea at present, this may become problematic at a later stage should there remaining kidney or cornea become damaged. Additionally, it could be argued that placing a financial incentive to ‘donate’ organs will act as a regressive policy and put pressure on less affluent individuals to sell their organs in order to feed their family, and the only people who will benefit from such a policy are the rich who will be able to bypass the organ waiting list and purchase their required organ.